This week, the Washington Health Benefit Exchange released the results of a Consumer Satisfaction survey and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) announced that Louis Gutierrez will become the Executive Director for the Massachusetts Health Connector.

This week, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held two hearings to discuss potential options to pay for the repeal and replacement of the Medicare sustainable growth rate and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, which focuses on whether providers have the right to sue a state for not adequately reimbursing them for services provided under Medicaid.

]]>http://www.politicsandlawblog.com/2015/01/23/health-care-weekly-wrap-up-10/feed/0http://www.politicsandlawblog.com/2015/01/23/health-care-weekly-wrap-up-10/Mike Klein Authors Article in City & State on Governor Mario Cuomohttp://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/PoliticsLawAndPolicyBlog/~3/RFahusaM_n0/
http://www.politicsandlawblog.com/2015/01/22/mike-klein-authors-article-city-state-on-governor-mario-cuomo/#commentsThu, 22 Jan 2015 14:24:08 +0000mckennalonghttp://www.politicsandlawblog.com/?p=5970Continue Reading]]>McKenna Long’s Mike Klein authored an article in City & State on the late Governor Mario Cuomo entitled, “Success in Life and Basketball.”

“I had the privilege of working for Gov. Mario Cuomo during his third term in the early ’90s. Like so many of us, I was in awe from the first day. The non-stop schedule, the great speeches, the intense focus on service and the relentless push from the governor to make the world a better place. It was the best job I will ever have…

But in many ways, it was only later that his fierce dedication to people and competition came to light. During his third term, I began to play in the highly secretive and competitive basketball league that was a true passion for Mario Cuomo. He was a gifted athlete: strong, relentless and strategic. He was perhaps an even better coach and teacher. From his early days at St. John’s and his professional baseball contract to softball with staff and the Legislature to his inner obsession— basketball. The Governor’s League, later called New Yorkers Basketball, evolved after he left office and moved back to New York City in 1995.

For nearly a decade, I had the honor of being a captain and leading the league in its organization, but the guv was a force a nature. I would bring players in. His son Chris (an outstanding player, but don’t tell him I said that) would bring players in— most of whom were half the governor’s age and yet, no one was ever as strong or as tenacious or able to call a foul, mostly because to win a call you had to out-debate the guv … and let’s just say that was a challenging moment for each that tried.”

This week, CMS started mailing out the 1095-A forms that enrollees who purchased coverage through HealthCare.gov during 2014 will use when they file their taxes this spring and the Massachusetts Health Connector discussed its outreach plans to get roughly 265,000 Bay Staters on temporary health coverage to sign up for new coverage before January 23.

“Now that we have rung in 2015, let us hope that we can usher in newfound bipartisan consensus in Washington, D.C. on energy and transportation policy. Skeptics might point to looming clashes between the Republican-led Congress and the Obama Administration over environmental regulations, such as EPA’s effort to regulate CO2 emissions from existing power plants. Yet, I see more than a glimmer of optimism for cooperation between the Administration and Congress on energy and transportation legislation for the coming year. While Congress is focusing initially on legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, it is not too early to think about other energy and transportation bills that could enhance U.S. energy security, increase clean energy generation, and create jobs and economic growth.”

“In the donor community, donors are scared to get off the sidelines,” says Stefan Passantino, who leads the political law team at law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge. “If you are a sitting governor, you definitely are at a competitive disadvantage.”

This week, the 114th Congress kicked off, and one of the first actions by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was to pass a bill changing the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) definition of a full-time worker.

This week, the Executive Director of Massachusetts Health Connector stepped down, New Yorkers got a Christmas surprise from their state and Covered California’s five-member board of directors underwent its first shakeup.